Mud rail



Aug 22, 1967 L.. L. s. NELSON v 3,337,3l

' l MUD RAIL y Filed oct. 2e, 1964 v v 5 Sheets-sheet 1 v INVENTOR af/05 4. S A/fwa/V Aug. 22, 1967 L. 1 s. NLSON,

MUDl RAIL 3 shee1s-shee1 z Filed Oct. 26, 1964 INVENTOR.

u A., W, l

-ug 22', 1967 L. s. NELSON MUD RAIL Filed oct. 26, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 1N VENTOR. ar/4 a5 L 5t MSL 50N A r roe/V5 y [III IN' United States Patent O Filed Oct. 26, 1964, Ser. No. 406,518 8 Claims. (Cl. 23S-20) This is la continuation in part of my application Ser. No. 279,733, led May 13, 1963, now abandoned.

At railroad crossings or like areas where wheeled vehicles such as automobiles cross railway rails, it is cornmon practice to install mud guards, which `are often steel rails of the same type as the running rails, but of smaller size, being frequently rails that have served their usefulness as running rails, and have been taken up. These rails when so installed are termed mud rails. When properly installed, at the inner side of :a running rail, with the head of the mud rail level with the head of the running rail, and the two heads correctly spaced laterally, a space or slot is delined within which the flange of a wheel traversing the running rail can run. Diiering from guardrails that engage and retain the ange of a wheel, opposite the point where two rails cross, against lateral shifting that might incorrectly divert the crossing wheel along the wrong track, -mud rails are so Ispaced from the cooperating running rail that the wheel of a car traversing the running rail will never engage the mud rail. The mud rails function is to hold back paving material intermediate running rails at a crossing, just as the running rails hold back such material outside thereof, and so to provide a slot for wheel iianges and a smooth and non-deteriorating crossing, level with the heads of all rails, for wheeled road vehicles such as trucks. Since the mud rail is not subjected to severe lateral stresses, such as those imposed upon a guardrail by the wheels of cars traversing the running rails, the construction and installation of a mud rail support is materially diiferent from those of supports for a guardrail, and the mud rail installation will not suffice as a guardrail installation. It should be relatively inexpensive, both in material cost and in cost of installation.

Such crossings sometimes occur at locations yalong, a curved running rail. The mud rails are supplied in straight lengths, :and must be distorted in or prior to installation so as to conform in curvature to the running rail. Because the mud rails are initially straight, and because of the simple structure preferred for the mud rail support, it has been found impossible to install a mud rail thus distorted to the correct curvature, whether the mud rail is precurved, which is impracticable, or is distorted during the process of installation, if such mud rail support is made entirely according to the construction proposed in my original application. I have found it necessary to alter that construction slightly, in a manner described hereinafter. Not -only is the changed construction highly eiective in the installation of a mud rail along a curved running rail, but also it simplifies such an installation along straight running rails, where because of slight departures of rails, plates, etc., from standard sizes, or of slight variations in location of such parts from their intended locations, as they are installed, the mud rail cannot readily be engaged, or in some instances cannot be engaged at all, with certain locating and holddown means of the type disclosed in my earlier application.

It is a general object of this invention to provide an installation for such mud rails that will enable ready adaptation to varying conditions thus encountered, and one that is readily installed under all circumstances, and that will stand up under the conditions encountered in use over -long'trouble-free periods.

It is an object to provide a support for a mud rail that utilizes normal plates and rails, with the plates modiiied in certain ways, and installed in the usual way, and one moreover to which the mud rail is anchored in a simple manner, by tools normally available at the job site, and at slight expense, yet is firmly and securely xed in place, immovably with respect to the running rail.

It is also an object to provide a method of installation especially adapted for use when the modied plate of this invention is employed, whereby the installation is accomplished quickly, securely, land at minimum expense.

These and other objects will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention resides in the mud rail support, in the installation incorporating the same, and in the method of installing a mud rail in proper relationship to the running rail, when a support of the type to be described is used, all as will be made clear in this specification, and will be defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a typical installation and support.

FIGURE l is a side elevation of the support, the rails being shown in section, illustrating the manner of engaging the outer ange of the mud rail with its support, during installation, and FIGURE 2 is a similar view, with the installation at one support completed.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a convexly curved running rail and a cooperating mud rail showing the mud rail secured in place at a near support only, and in process of being anchored at the next support, this View illustrating how the next support allows proper engagement of the mud rail by its minimum torsional distortion, and FIGURE 4 is a similar View, showing the mud rail fully installed upon the second support; this step-by-step engagement with successive supports would continue throughout the length of the mud rail, when the mud rail is installed at the convex side of a curved running rail.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view corresponding to FIG- URE 3, illustrating the partially completed installation of a mud rail according to this invention alongside a concavely curved running rail.

Where reference is made herein to inner or outer anges or sides of any rail, it is to be understood that the inner flange is the flange nearer the opposite running rail, and the outer flange is the flange opposite such inner ange. The mud rails are installed at the inner sides of the running rails with which they respectively cooperate. The mud rails are installed with their heads uppermost, `and rest upon their tlanges. The head of a mud rail should be at the same level as the head of the cooperating running rail, with the two heads spaced yapart by a distance suciently in excess of the thickness of the ange of a wheel traversing the running rail that that flange will not contact the mud rail. So installed the heads are close enough that `an automobile wheel rolling upon pavement outside the running rail and inside the mud rail will be subjected to no noticeable bump as it crosses the rails, and the rails protect the abutting pavement against deterioration, as can be seen by reference to FIGURE 2.

The running rail 1 is installed rst, for it is its presence that calls for the installation of the mud rail 2 at the area of a crossing, where pavement P is lbuilt up to the height of the heads of the rails. Running rails are supported from ties T by tie plates of various sorts that rest directly upon the ties and upon which plate rest the flanges 10a and 10b. A at plate 3 is shown, yet a canted plate or other style of plate could be used equally Well. The plate used should be of a length to extend from outside the outer flange 10a of running rail 1 well past the inner flange 10b of rail 1. It is normally formed with holes for passage of the shanks of spikes S by which the rail 1 and the plate 3 are fixed to the supporting tie T.

Since the mud rail 2 with which this invention is concerned is a headed and anged rail of the same shape as the running rail 1, but smaller, it is necessary to support it at such elevation above the plate 3 that its head 21 is level with the head 11 of the running rail. For this purpose an integral, usually welded-on, lug 32 stands up from the plate 3 suciently high that when the flanges 20 of mud rail 2 rest upon the flat upper seating surface 30 of the lug, the head 21 will be at the same level as the head 11. The height of the -lug 32 will vary in accordance with the size of the mud rail to be employed. The lug is located at the inner side of the ilange b of the running rail, and may be suiciently narrow that it will not obstruct driving spikes through the plate to engage the inner flange 10b of the running rail. Its breadth, transversely of the rails, is just sufficient to support the flanges of the mud rail.

The lug 32 may extend as a hook 31 outwardly over the inner flange 10b of the running rail. This hook 31 may be relied on to hold down ange 10b to the plate, instead of spikes S at this particular point, but preferably spikes are used here as wel-l as elsewhere. This extension outwardly of lug 32 shifts the seat 3i) slightly nearer head 11 of the running rail. Y

At its outer end the lug is formed with a hook 33 facing laterally inwardly to engage and hold down the outer ange 26B of the mud rail 2 upon its seat 30. At its inner end the lug is undercut, to define a surface 34 that slopes inwardly and upwardly to intersect the plane of the seat 30 substantially at the inner edge thereof, corresponding to the breadth of anges 20. A malleable tab 4 is secured flat against the surface 34, as by welding, and before installation of the mud rail 2 the tab inclines upwardly and inwardly to a short distance above the level of seat 30, as is best seen in FIGURE 1. The precise slope is not irnportant, being shown as 45; the important thing is that the slope, in relation to the free length of the t-ab, be such that in the process of installation the tab shall not prevent the flanges of mud rail 2 from seating properly at 30, nor from engaging within hook 33, as would be the case were the tab disposed vertically. This will appear more clearly hereinafter.

As has been stated, mud rails are supplied in straight lengths, as is the case in FIGURE 3, for it would be impractical to prebend them on the job, or even in advance of delivery to a job site, to a radius of curvature to parallel the curvature of the running rail. When such mud rails must be installed alongside the convex side of a curved running rail, one end of the mud rail is anchored close to the running rail, as is the nearer end in FIG- URE 3, and then the mud rail at some distance from its -anchored end, is engaged by a crowbar or like tool B (FIGURE 3) and forced laterally and slightly upwardly over the end of tab 4, and then usually torsionally so that its outer flange engages beneath the hook 33, and its flanges 20 seat at 30. This anchors the mud r-ail, laterally bent between the two points of securement, but seated flatly at the two seats 30, at these two points. This stepby-step bending and anchoring proceeds the length of the mud rail. Since the process of anchoring involves engaging the outer flange of the mud rail beneath the hook 33 and seating its anges 20 atly upon the seat 30, it is clear that unless the end of the seat opposite the hook 33 is devoid of anything that projects materially above the level of the seat, or close to the inner end thereof, the mud rail, in addition to being stressed laterally for curvature, must also be greatly stressed torsionally to effect such engagement and seating, and some free space must be left between tab 4 and hook 33. The tab 4 does project above the level of seat 30, and in an earlier form wherein the tab projected vertically upward immediately at the inner end of the seat to a distance to afford sulli cient length to bend it over the inner flange 20` of mud rail 2, this vertical tab precluded engagement and seating of the rail 2, for the rail could not be distorted sufliciently torsionally while at the same time being distorted laterally and upwardly, in the distance between successive anchorages, usually approximately forty-two inches.

According to the invention as shown herein, the upwardly and inwardly angled tab, as in FIGURE 1, projects so slightly above the seat 30, and at such a distance from the inne-r end thereof, that only minimum upward and torsional distortion is required, and the outer flange of rail 2 can be elevated above t-ab 4 to slip onto seats 30, and engaged beneath hook 33, as shown by the arrow A in FIGURE l, and its flanges 20 will seat fully upon seat 30, just outside the base of tab 4. Now the malleable tab is bent outwardly and over the inner flange of rail 2, using a sledge. The mud rail is thereby rrnly anchored, in curved condition paralleling the running rail, at a second point of anchorage. This proceeds past successive points of anchorage until the end of the mud rail is reached. The curvature of the mud rail now parallels the curved running rail, throughout the length of the mud rail.

If the mud `rail must be anchored inside a convexly curved running rail, the method illustrated in FIGURE 5 is used, which is a variation of the method already described. The straight mud rail is rst loosely anchored, as at M and N, to supports of the type described at its opposite ends. It then extends chordally relative to the curved running lrail, as indicated in FIGURE 5 by the dot-dash lines. Now a jack I is used, somewhere between its ends, and reacting from the opposite running rail or other xed point, to bow the mud rail general-ly to the curvature of the cooperating running rail, and a crowbar B distorts it sufficiently upwardly to pass over the tab 4 of a support 32, and torsionally to engage its outer flange beneath hook 33, and it seats upon the seat 30 of the support. The tab is bent over, and can be loosely engaged at rst. This step-by-step engagement proceeds until all supports engage and hold the mud rail-curved. If some tabs are not as yet fully engaged with flanges 20 they are pounded into full engagement, and the installation is complete. In FIGURE 5 the upper end of the mud rail is shown fully bent, but the bending and anchoring of the lower (nearer) end is proceeding.

After the mud rail is thus installed, the pavement P is laid, using the rails 1 and 2 to limit the spread of the paving material, which can rise to the level of the heads 11 and 21. A slot `remains between these heads, in which the ange of a railway car wheel can run freely, this slot being of such width that the mud rail 2 is never contacted by the wheel flanges, yet not so wide as to create an appreciable bump for automobile wheels.

A mud r-ail installation according to the present invention is also useful `if the track is straight, and not curved. All parts may be correctly located and aligned, yet it is seldom possible to locate plates 3 so accurately that the precise location of hooks 33 and tabs 4 can be relied upon, with respect to the running rail. Moreover, while rails, plates, lugs, etc., are generally assumed to be of unvarying dimensions, and locations, quite often they vary by enough to cause trouble in the installation. Such variations Ihave caused difficulty in engaging and ancho-ring mud rails correctly, especially in enabling engagement of the outer ange thereof beneath the hook 33, because of interference of flanges 20 with vertically upright tabs such as 4, in the earlier form of the invention. The present form, with the tab 4 sloped as described, avoids such difficulties, and allows for departure from size and location of parts. Even if parts are accurately located, a vertical tab would allow no room to slip a flange 20 laterally beneath a hook 33, whereas the sloped tab affords ample room.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mud rail installation at a railroad crossing comprising, in combination with a running rail and a mudv rail extending parallel thereto, a plate extending beneath both rails, from outside the running rail past the inner ange of the mud rail, with the running rail resting thereon, means to fix said plate and the running rail upon a tie whereon the plate rests, said plate having a lug located inside the running rail, defining a seat of a breadth to support the flanges of the mud rail, and being of a height to locate the head of the mud rail seated thereon substantially level with the head of the running rail, a hook carried by said lug and opening laterally inwardly in position to engage and hold down the outer ange of the mud rail seated upon said seat, and thereby to space its head laterally from the head of the running rail suiciently that the ange of a Wheel on the running rail cannot contact the mud rail, and a bendable tab directed initially inwardly and upwardly from the lug, at the inner side of the inner ilange of the mud rail, and when bent over Said inner flange cooperating with said hook to secure the mud rail in position laterally `and vertically relative to the running rail.

2. A mud rail installation at a railroad crossing, as in claim 1, wherein the lug at its inner end, below the seat for the mud rail, is inclined upwardly and inwardly, the bendable tab of malleable material being formed as a separate piece that is initially substantially planar, and secured to the inclined inner end of the lug. y

3. A mud rail installation as in claim 1, wherein the running rail is formed on a curve, the mud rail being engaged by bendable tabs of the character described at suiciently close intervals in its length to bend and retain said mud rail correspondingly curved, and held in correct position relative to the running rail, at each such point of engagement.

4. A mud rail support, for use at a railroad crossing to support a anged and headed mud rail in lateral and vertical disposition spaced from the head of a running rail, said support comprising a plate of a length to extend from outside the outer ange of the running rail past the inner ange of the mud rail, and formed with means whereby it can be xed upon a tie whereon it rests, and in turn the running rail which rests upon the plate can be so iixed, a lug upstanding from said plate inside the inner flange of the running rail, of a breadth to define a substantially level seat to support the flanges of a mud rail, and to a height to locate the head of a mud rail thus supported substantially level with the head of the running rail, a hook upon said lug opening inwardly in position to engage and hold down the outer flange of a mud rail when seated, and thereby to space the head of such mud rail laterally from the head of the cooperating running rail suticiently that the ange of a wheel on the running rail cannot contact the mud rail, and a bendable tab directed upwardly and inwardly from the lug, at the inner end of its seat, for subsequent engagement, when bent, over the inner flange of the mud rail.

5. A mud rail support as delined in claim 4, wherein the bendable tab is a generally planar piece of malleable material formed separately from the lug, the lug at its inner end, below its seat, being inclined upwardly land inwardly, and the planar tab piece being seated upon and 6 secured to such inclined end of the lug, with its free upper end projecting beyond the seat.

6. A mud rail support as in claim 4, wherein the lug is formed with a second hook at its outer end, positioned to overlie the inner flange of the running rail, when installed.

7. Means to support a anged and headed mud rail in laterally spaced disposition relative to a similarly shaped running rail, said support comprising a plate of a length to extend from outside the running rail past the inner flange of the mud rail, and provided with means whereby it can be fixed upon a tie whereon it rests, and beneath the anges of the running rail, said support having a lug located inside the running rail for support of the flanges of the mud rail, means carried by the plate and located intermediate the two rails to engage and hold down the outer ange of the mud rail, cooperating means also carried by the plate and located inwardly of the inner ange of the mud rail, to engage and hold down that inner llange, at least the inner one of said mud rail Hangeengaging means being an initially upwardly directed, bendable tab that when bent over the mud rail flange cooperates with the other such means to secure the mud rail in spaced, operative relation to the running rail.

8. Means to support a mud rail at a railroad crossing, in fixed relationship to and at the inner side of a parallel running rail, said support means comprising a lug and means to iix said lug laterally with relation to the running rail, at the inner side of the latter, an upper surface of said lug defining a seat for the mud rail, at a level such as to bring the head of the mud rail when resting thereon substantially level with the head of the running rail, a hook carried by the lug at its side adjacent the running rail and opening laterally inwardly in position to engage and hold down the outer flange of the seated mud rail, thereby to space its head laterally from the head of the running rail suticiently that the flange of -a wheel on the running rail cannot contact the mud rail, and a bendable tab directed initially inwardly and upwardly from the lug, at the inner side of the mud rail, and when bent over the inner flange of the mud rail cooperating with said hook to secure the mud rail in position laterally and vertically relative to the running rail.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 909,519 1/ 1909 Batchelder 238-120 1,093,157 4/1914 Stephenson 238-20 2,024,110 12/ 1935 ONeill 238-20 FOREIGN PATENTS 366,388 2/1932 Great Britain.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A MUD RAIL INSTALLATION AT A RAILROAD CROSSING COMPRISING IN COMBINATION WITH A RUNNING RAIL AND A MUD RAIL EXTENDING PARALLEL THERETO, A PLATE EXTENDING BENEATH BOTH RAILS, FROM OUTSIDE THE RUNNING RAIL PAST THE INNER FLANGE OF THE MUD RAIL, WITH THE RUNNING RAIL RESTING THEREON, MEANS TO FIX SAID PLATE AND THE RUNNING RAIL UPON A TIE WHEREON THE PLATE RESTS, SAID PLATE HAVING A LUG LOCATED INSIDE THE RUNNING RAIL, DEFINING A SEAT OF A BREADTH TO SUPPORT THE FLANGES OF THE MUD RAIL, AND BEING OF A HEIGHT TO LOCATE THE HEAD OF THE MUD RAIL SEATED THEREON SUBSTANTIALLY LEVEL WITH THE HEAD OF THE RUNNING RAIL, A HOOK CARRIED BY SAID LUG AND OPENING LATERALLY INWARDLY IN POSITION TO ENGAGE AND HOLD DOWN THE OUTER FLANGE OF THE MUD RAIL SEATED UPON SAID SEAT, AND THEREBY TO SPACE ITS HEAD LATERALLY FROM THE HEAD OF THE RUNNING RAIL SUFFICIENTLY THAT THE FLANG OF THE WHEEL ON THE RUNNING RAIL CANNOT CONTACT THE MUD RAIL, AND A BENDABLE TAB DIRECTED INITIALLY INWARDLY AND UPWARDLY FROM THE LUG, AT THE INNER SIDE OF THE INNER FLANGE OF THE MUD RAIL, AND WHEN BENT OVER SAID INNER FLANGE COOPERATING WITH SAID HOOK TO SECURE THE MUD RAIL IN POSITION LATERALLY AND VERTICALLY RELATIVE TO THE RUNNING RAIL. 